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@deleted
@ewanmac I'm glad you asked this as I've pondered it for ages!
Over 10,000m Farah is arguably quickest as well as having the best sprint in recent years. If you look at the data at the source below and sort for times for 2010 to date, you'll see only three athletes have a faster time (Bekele, Rupp, Rotich), and even then only by a matter of seconds. Farah and Tanui are the only two who have run fast consistently (each with three of the fastest 25 times since 2010).
The reason it turns into a tactical race is because they are not confident they can run away from him - and rightly so, as he is at least one of the fastest as well as having the strongest finish. With the absence of pacers, even an elite athlete could easily blow the pacing and risk losing everything, so I suppose they are maximising their outcome by fighting for silver.
http://www.alltime-athletics.com/m_10kok.htm